Sometimes, I don’t want to share the ideas in my head.

When I find myself thinking about new characters – and potentially a new story to write – I have the greatest, liveliest movie going in my head. Sometimes, it’s infinitely better than just about anything I have read.

Remember – I said just about anything…lol

I love seeing the stories come alive for me. As the characters start to take shape and they begin to start talking to me, it’s fantastic. If I’m being completely honest, it may be my favourite part of the entire creative process. It’s at this point where even I don’t quite know where the story is going to go and the possibilities are endless. It’s not until I start putting pen to paper (and I do sometimes resort to the tried and true methods) that the path of the story gets locked in.

But it also puts me in a strange position. I want to share my writing, but the stories and characters are so personal, so important to me that I don’t really want to share them – because the connection is so strong that I want to protect them in a weird way.

I still get nervous when someone tells me they’ve read something I’ve written. My first instinct is to prepare myself for the criticism – a long time, deep-seeded issue of my own, I freely admit. I’m always sure that people will find my writing pointless, or even terrible. And yet time after time, I’m always pleasantly surprised by the comments I get back. Positive feedback is addictive, and I find it means so much more than the person offering the kind words will ever truly realize.

I put anything down on paper for some time now. But that’s not to say I don’t have ideas running around in my head. Almost every single day, I run across things that spark my interest and curiosity to delve deeper and to try and learn where the analysis might take me. I’ve certainly had a couple of interesting images flash by of late, and that’s what is most exciting for me.

Because I know that in time, a new story will start forming itself and will soon come to the surface. And at a certain point, I’ll begin to write it down and watch the path take shape and see where the story turns out – and how it gets there.

And the good news? We’re heading towards a long weekend in this part of the world. And I’m planning on getting out of town for a few days.

I better pack a notebook. And a few pens…